Brian is the bassist and vocalist for a band with his two brothers, cousin, and a college friend. recently, he has begun to experience more and more intense anxiety as he sings in front of crowds. as a result, he has begun to ask his bandmates to sing the songs for him. brian's anxiety lessens when the focus of the crowd is not on him, demonstrating that brian's avoidance of singing is being

The correct answer is negatively reinforced. 

Negative reinforcement refers to a learning process whereby a behavior or response is reinforced and much more likely to be repeated in the future if a negative outcome is avoided or removed as a result of performing the behavior. In this instance, Brian's avoidance of singing is being negatively reinforced because avoiding singing is removing his feelings of anxiety associated with singing and being in the spotlight.